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Larry R. VanGelder: Officers deserve

August 28, 2012

Posted:
08/28/2012 08:30:22 AM MDT

Officers deserve

competitive pay

To the editor:

I'm a correctional officer in Cañon City, and I'm proud of the work I do serving the people of Colorado. Correctional officers are on the front lines of public safety, carrying out the will of the people as part of our justice system.

But just as important, I'm a member of this community. My paycheck, and that of my co-workers, supports businesses large and small here in southern Colorado. Just about everybody in Cañon City is connected to our correctional officers in one way or another, through schools, church, and work.

I'm also a Department of Corrections Partnership Team member of Colorado WINS, the organization that represents state employees. Last legislative session, an important dialogue occurred between Colorado WINS and the Colorado Department of Personnel Administration on the future of the workforce. A new pay system, merit pay, came out of that dialogue.

The Colorado Department of Personnel Administration just came out with their annual salary report, and it finds Colorado correctional officers are falling even further behind their private sector counterparts. The DPA recommended some changes -- changes that many officers consider adding insult to injury for a workforce that has dealt with increased uncertainty and strain in recent years.

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The change for our largest classification, correction officer I, is one of the most alarming proposals in the report. Despite DPA's finding that Colorado correction officer I employees have a median salary of $3,292/month, which is 8.8 percent lower than the market median salary of $3,581, DPA recommends that the pay range midpoint for the CO I classification be reduced by 8.5 percent. The correction officer I classification is the backbone of Department of Corrections and the largest cohort of workers in an occupation group, which DPA found to be paid 5.1 percent less than comparable workers in Colorado.

We need to come together to address the morale and pay issues affecting Colorado correctional officers. If DPA is to succeed in moving its talent agenda forward, it must find a way to provide competitive total compensation to its present workforce and to attract young Coloradans to public service.